More unusual surfaces--some that worked, some that didn't

A little over a year ago, I was asked to paint some 100 cookies and then a wedding cake. I had not done such projects before, but I am relatively fearless about painting. I will try almost anything once. So, I went to the cafe and painted cookies. The cookies were all baked and had been frosted, so they were ready to go. The request was to paint rosebuds on them. They were to be for guests at a wedding. I used paste food coloring diluted with a little bit of water. It worked very well.


A week or so later, I got a call from the same cafe asking me to paint a cake. The cake was to have grapes and rosebuds on it and they were going to top it with bunches of grapes and some roses. This did not seem to be a difficult task, so off I went. This cake was covered with fondant and they gave me a piece of fondant to practice on so I could get a feel for it before starting on the cake. The cake turned out nicely. It had the look of a watercolor painting. The shop owner was pleased, and I went home. Because of the ingredients in the cake (there was buttercream under the fondant), it had to be refrgerated. When it came out of the fridge the next morning, the air immediately condensed on the cake and all of the painting ran. It was a disaster and they had to quickly do another cake with regular frosting decorations. I felt terrible. I have since learned that there is a company somewhere on the west coast that sells a painting kit for food. It is pretty expensive, but if I had to do such a project again, I would make that purchase. I would, of course, first ask if the product will stand up to refrigeration! We learn from our experiences, both good and bad.